Having to hit guy 3-5 times ?
Have played just shortly after new patch (like, regular 6hour session), and i did not notice much difference. I still get raped by archers, and i have to hit 2-3 times at most while using Bec. I dont use anything else these days, as shortness and speed is what i find appealing. With some of them new collisions and stuff, sporting too long weapon is quite hard due to all them TH and TKs, i tried with long hafted and man, that sucked.
IF the bow dmg is counted as pierce with bodkins, i guess ill go archer for few gens to see how it feels.
But on topic: try to add some more spice to your attacks with speed bonuses, with a 38c weapon you can twohit kill a guy if you got good bonus and you place your hits well. I like that i am able to survive quite some hits if the guys are static or hitting with bad bonuses, that is fine. And it should be, try to adjust playstyle to rotate to hits more and such and you will see its not that bad at all.
(played 2her for like 8gens, pole for 4, so i got some overview how things are)